Contributors
Tags


Filed under

Cesar

 

 

Contemporary Slavery

July 24, 2010

Before yesterday, 2010/07/21 with the folks of LA Bucket Brigade, we went on the "1811 Slave Revolt Tour" by Leon Waters of the Louisiana Museum of African American History. 
 
 
I highly recommend this tour (original map on google maps) if you are around New Orelans, 20$/ person for half a day, worth the money. Tel +1 504 432 9901 | history.hidden@gmail.com. The tour took us walking in the steps of the slaves that rebelled in 1811 in Louisiana, marching on New Orleans for their freedom, shouting "freedom or death". This march also called the 1811 German Coast Uprising is the largest slave revolt in the United States and the one of the least known, due to an underlying revisionism according to Waters. 
 
 
We were able to visit graveyards were black heroes of the civil war came back to build entire communities around churches. Back in 1811 the life of the slaves was cruel, exploited to death, working in the plantations, sexually abused, lodging in miserable huts, forced to manipulate toxic materials, exposed to mortal gases in the early industrial era. The cruelty black people were exposed was proportional to the wealth of their owners, often reflected in the surface of their lands and the magnificence of their master house.
 
 
Historical researches have permitted to locate accurately large slave cemeteries, now abandoned and invisible, buried under the sediments, especially since the area his used as a gigantic spillway...
 
 
The Louisiana Museum of African American History has been working for a long time to get access to make archeological study of the hidden cemetery. Permission to study this site of historical importance has been denied, and even the marking of the site with a public banner has not been allowed. History hidden. 
 
 
In 1811 white landlords were forcing black slaves to manipulate fatal toxic, such as the one required in the fabrication of Indigo (pigment). Today, the swamps owned by the former slaves children has been bought by major energy companies at an unfair price to host multi-millions polluting facilities. The descents of the slaves still live on the "fence lines" of these industries. The inhabitants suffer severe health issues (cancers, asthma) and the fancy playgrounds built by corporations have no children playing. 
 
La Bucket Brigade has been working since 10 years to support the local communities in front of merciless corporations which are stronger than the federal government itself. There is so much secrecy and lies, about the current DeepWater Horizon Oil Spill, we have been informed that several oiled beaches are just being covered with sand, hiding oil instead of collecting it. 
 
Today, most of BP cleaning staff on the beach is black american, and BP does not allow them to wear respirators to avoid "spreading hysteria". We do not have access to health reports of BP cleaners, some of them secretly report they are suffering, they are all under agreement of non-disclosure and pressure... When will the next rebellion happen?
 
Cruel chapters of history are being written today, strangely familiar.
 
 

Filed under  //   BP oil spill   Cesar   Cesar Harada   History   LA Bucket Brigade   LABB   Lousiana   New Orleans   Oil Spill   Slavey  
Posted by Cesar Harada 

Comments [6]

 

World Environment Action, Concept draft

April 21, 2010

 
Dear fellows, TEDsters around the world.
It's Cesar Harada TED Fellow 2010 Long Beach. Right now I am at the IHub in the vibrant Nairobi Kenya, building the prototype of the World Environment Action (WEA) website (soon on-line). The idea is to "Puts every local initiative and its global impact on the same map". Based on Ushahidi, we want to create a powerful crowd-sourcing database to empower the transformation of the United Nation Environmental Program (UNEP) based here in Nairobi, into the the World Environment Organization (WEO, that doesn't exist yet) and re-think global environmental governance in a more distributed and efficient way, a bottom up approach, for people, for nature.
 
I just made the concept video draft above, it is very sketchy : I NEED YOUR FEEDBACK -> PLEASE COMMENT. 
I am not presenting you something finished, I want to know how you feel about the idea, the system, the interface, your comments will greatly shape the proposal.
You can also flick through the slideshow on the original google docs right here : http://tinyurl.com/WEO-nairobi 
In about 10 days I will present a more detailed proposal, a mockup and a business plan to the head of the UNDP and at the UNEP. I need the sharpness and creativity of the TED community to put together "IDEAS WORTH SPREADING", for a purpose. 
Thank you very much for your time.

Filed under  //   Open_Sailing   open   sailing   Africa   Cesar   Development   Economy   Harada   IHub   Kickstarter   Mashup   Nairobi   Prezi   UN   UNDP   UNEP   WEA   WEO   WTO   World Environment Action   World Environment Organization   ushahidi  
Posted by Cesar Harada 

Comments [6]

 

Valentine's Zepellin. TED fellows in love in the air !

February 15, 2010

That one's dedicated to all of you TEDster who couldnt make it back  home for Valentine's day. And especially for all the Fellows, senior fellows and wonderful organizers of TED 2010 Long Beach ... I'm in love with you all guys !!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Flight over Long Beach, California, USA.

http://ted.com
http://airshipventures.com
http://sarahjanepell.com
http://cesarharada.com
http://opensailing.net

Filed under  //   Airship   Cesar   Long   air   baloon   beach   fellow   flight   fly   jane   pell   pressure   sarah   take off   travelling   ventures   zepelin   zepellin   zeppelin   zeppellin  
Posted by Cesar Harada 

Comments [0]

 

Dreaming of type 1 civilization?

January 19, 2010

Thanks to Will Moller for the link.

As defined by Michio Kaku :
- Type-1 civilization : is capable of harnessing the entire power of a planet, and dominate its processes, including its weather, geothermal energy, etc. It should be able to construct facilities anywhere it wants to on the planet.
- Type-2 civilization : is capable of harnessing the power of its local star, and subsidiary planets.
- Type-3 civilization can become inter-stellar/multi-stellar, capable of expanding across multiple star systems, and eventually the entire galaxy. (Star Trek is one exemple of Type-III Civilization)
We are currently at the zero-point-something mark on this scale.

As a 2010 TED fellow, we are collectively required to adress the question "what the world needs now?".

The world leaders had the same requirements at the COP15 Copenhagen summit.
Each of us has the opportunity everyday in each of our most insignificant actions - they are significant.
What a humbling question.

The first thing that pops to my mind is how difficult it is to link that different scales of actions : the global political decision and the everyday individual behavior changes in little gestures. Maybe we need to proceed the other way round this time?
Would it be possible? A peaceful working global interoperability? 
- Knowledge : People need to know about it.
- Desire : the proposed world need to desirable, ethical social model.
- Capacity : everyone needs to be able to participate in their own ways within earth limits.
I am working on this with this nascent project : the World Environment Organization and I am looking for programmers and lawyers for that (the website is very very bad for now, lots of work to do, contact me).

But the real question is : is a Type 1 civilzation even desirable? 
The type 1 civilization Michio Kaku describes has :
- a type 1 language : english (an everyone speaks another native land language).
- a type 1 monetary system (a global currency + capitalism).
- a type 1 political system (democracry + republic).
hummmm...... I think only americans agree with themselves on this. What does a chinese, an indian, a brazilian, cuban, french, arabic, persian, african person think about supremacy? Portuguese, English, French, Japanese have attempted it not long ago, Americans are doing it now... I think this "type 1 thinking" contradicts with the values of tolerance and cohesive forces necessary for the making a durable type 1 civilization. Haven't all empires collapsed? Diversity is the driving force for competition, evolution and civilizational progress, we can't wish for ONE dominant system, there wouldn't be any more progress, just an unstoppable normative force. Myself being a japanese descent I am very surprised Kaku advocates a totalitarian type 1 civilization, as if plurality wasn't thinkable, only American domination... How sad...

As Michio Kaku describes it, the type 1 civilization is a civilization of absolute control : control over the planet, processes, including its weather, geothermal energy. So it is human domination over "nature". Which is also a questionnable desire.  And Kaku suggests that's only achievable with a type 1 language, 1 monetary and 1 political system. I think this way of thinking is dangerous. Think about linguistics : why do we have so many words, so many languages, so many dialects... Why do Eskimos have so many different words to describe "snow"? Why do we have every week new artificial computer and artificial languages? Diversity is a fact, and is necessary. Kaku suggests each will have his/her own local language + english, but the fact is that local languages tend to disappear on the long term.

Kaku interestingly simplified the options for accessing the type 1 civilization conditional to :
- positive "integration forces" with tolerance, multi-cultural fabric on one hand ;
- and on the other hand "disintegration forces" : "weapons of mass destruction, germ weapons, terrorism..."
I think it is a good simplification, it does help : we need to concentrate on minimizing the disintegration forces, and maximizing integration forces. On this we can all agree, but it only is valid if no country has a domination desire... and he himself clearly declares he has!

Kaku also takes the example of the European Union, and falsely explains its inception as a counter-measure to the North American Free Trade Agreement. It is not true! Europe was born after the war as a space of political cooperation, to ensure peace - and later only - to improve economic condition. Thanks to American help on this, by the way.
The US is very different, it is a very recent rich colonized land, from which the natives have largely been subject to what many qualify a genocide. Europe is a land of a much higher diversity of languages, economies and political systems than the US today, and according to the recent economic crisis, Europe happens to be more stable and resilient. Still the US is now a dominant economic, political, military and cultural entity. 

The US alone wont make the entire world access this type 1 civilization by forcing its normative military power, economy, language and values. There will be no global acceptance of the US type 1 civilization project. That would create too much friction. I like to think civilization type 0 transitioning to a civilization type 1 as the moment a plane breaks the sound barrier, or brakes itself. (video explaining sonic boom).

File:FA-18 Hornet breaking sound barrier (7 July 1999) - filtered.jpg

If our "civilization type 0" tries to transition to "civilization type 1" without enough velocity and cohesion it will fail like the early supersonic flights dramatic attempts. And we got only one chance!!!

We wont transition to type 1 civilization by forcing the entire world to speak the same language, use the same currency, have the same political ideas.
We wont transition to type 1 civilization by dominating the nature.
We wont transition to type 1 civilization with our actual political democratic system inability to change efficiently individual everyday little gestures.
We wont transition to type 1 civilization if each of us doesn't have the knowledge, desire and capacity to be on that flight.

Today, "I have a dream" has been published on http://www.ted.com (which is also why I post here today): 
http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_luther_king_jr_i_have_a_dream.html

Today the American president is a black man.
The dream is becoming a reality. Maybe.

I have a dream that we will all enter type 1 civilization with cohesion in our diversity of languages, currencies, political ideas.
I have a dream that we will enter type 1 civilization in harmony with nature, not dominating it.
I have a dream that each of our everyday gestures would reflect our many better political systems.
I have a dream that, not only a rich minority, but all of us will enter type 1 civilization with the capacity, knowledge and desire to, in their own ways.

Filed under  //   Black   Cesar   Civilization   Desire   Discourse   Dream   Europe   Genocide   Harada   Ideology   Kaku   Linguistics   Michio   Politics   TED   TED 2010 fellow   World Environment Organization  
Posted by Cesar Harada 

Comments [6]